Syzygies

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151.
by Syzygies 2y ago
Ligatures! Or not! Nice.
152.
by Syzygies 2y ago
Most consumer bathroom scales are programmed to report exactly the same reading twice in a row, when the reading is close. Passive damping may be smart, but stupid always wins.
153.
by Syzygies 2y ago
I want to go in the other direction: Take computer-generated math animation and make it look like Walt Disney was in his office "relaxing" while fifty artists drew each frame in a better version of my artist's hand.
154.
by Syzygies 2y ago
Yes, in real space the determinant is the signed volume of the image of the unit cube. Volume is base x height. Height is a linear function in the vector that rises above the base; the usual properties of the determinant follow from this.
155.
by Syzygies 2y ago
The title is a jab at and a response to "Linear Algebra Done Right" ( https://linear.axler.net ) by Sheldon Axler. Sheldon's book is more suitable for a second course in linear algebra. It's an excellent book,
156.
by Syzygies 2y ago
As a sophomore, I took the "barrier" physics intro for my distribution requirement. Sunday night before our first Monday morning exam, I found my professor in a phone book (1970's) and phoned to ask for an extension, explaini
157.
by Syzygies 2y ago
yes
158.
by Syzygies 2y ago
Pretty funny that this cites a 2015 Numberphile video, considering that my paper with Persi Diaconis was published in 1992. (You know you're on to something when so many people misquote and misinterpret your result, and say it sucks!)
159.
by Syzygies 2y ago
n the 1980's, Lynn Conway gave one of the two best talks I've heard in my life. She used sociology to understand how to spread radical ideas, starting with the example of birds in England teaching each other how to poke the foil i
160.
by Syzygies 2y ago
For years, Keychain Access would copy disk image passwords from custom keychains into keychains that opened at login, defeating my attempts at extra security. I don't trust 'Passwords'.
161.
by Syzygies 2y ago
I used to navigate Italy as a tourist using the three green volumes of the Carta stradale d’Italia (1:200,000), whose detail included passages that could barely be driven by a rental car. There are since map series at 1:50,000 and 1:25,000
162.
by Syzygies 2y ago
I chat a lot with ChatGPT-4o, usually endless everyday questions like how to replace the screened washer in a kitchen faucet supply line. It stunned me recently by remembering I had an argon tank, something I had only mentioned in a thread
163.
by Syzygies 2y ago
Various childhood experiences convinced me that adults were stupid. One was wearing a belt I didn't need, because that's what one did, and scratching my Dad's guitar. This cost me a career of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I
164.
by Syzygies 2y ago
With a different adapter one can refill camping canisters from a standard propane tank. One "usually" gets away with refilling empty canisters, but these aren't legal for transport in an automobile. Presumably with reason, as
165.
by Syzygies 2y ago
We're this much closer to being hacked?
166.
by Syzygies 2y ago
Yes! Which entry in https://oeis.org (The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences) is this?
167.
by Syzygies 2y ago
It was still the best monitor I'd used up to that point. My current Eizo EV3285 is my all-time favorite, though $300 alternatives aren't far off. That last 5% is worth it to me.
168.
by Syzygies 2y ago
My Dad worked in the research labs at Eastman Kodak, where he eventually devised the "Bayer filter" used in digital cameras. Around 1962, there was an open house evening, the first time I set eyes on a computer. I briefly got to p
169.
by Syzygies 2y ago
Data structures are useless without functions, and functions are useless without data structures. In use, ropes are like `ShowS`. It feels to me like you're making a grammatical distinction, of a kind I try to avoid so I can think more
170.
by Syzygies 2y ago
Ropes remind me of Haskell's type ShowS = String -> String `Text` is generally preferred to `String` in Haskell, but I've happily written parsers that depend on `ShowS` to defer concatenation to linear time final output.
171.
by Syzygies 2y ago
If there's any single takeaway from recent advances in deep learning, it's that multilayer neural nets allow the simulation of recursion, which is absolutely fundamental to any kind of meaningful reasoning. Struggling through math
172.
by Syzygies 2y ago
I bought a Newton when it came out. A very expensive way to glimpse the future, including the iPhone. When VR gets more comfortable to wear, it will represent a more dramatic shift than moving from terminals to graphical user interfaces. Fo
173.
by Syzygies 2y ago
I lucked into a demo yesterday while my wife bought a new iPhone and Apple Watch. The guy was free. The device is stunning, beyond our normal experience with other devices. One should try one, before debating its future. My potential use ca
174.
by Syzygies 2y ago
For perspective, one might look at the Natural Number Game, an introduction to mathematical proof using the language Lean 4: https://adam.math.hhu.de/#/g/leanprover-community/NNG4 I recall the feeling, being
175.
by Syzygies 3y ago
I've seen Casablanca more times than A Beautiful Mind, and I worked on that movie. My first viewings were indeed from the balcony of the Brattle Theatre, where one could get books of ten tickets cheap as a grad student. My last viewing
176.
by Syzygies 3y ago
Your comment lead the poker player in me to watch a few videos of Bostrom speaking, such as his TED talk. He has clearly worked hard to become conversant in these ideas, but I don't detect any original provocative thought.
177.
by Syzygies 3y ago
But is a Higgs Field like a Monad?
178.
by Syzygies 3y ago
Yes, I was thinking of services like Pandora (radio station-style playlists) when I chose Tidal, then added Qobuz. You're right that album selection is now available on various services such as Spotify. Some offer lossless CD-quality a
179.
by Syzygies 3y ago
The services Tidal and Qobuz give user-controlled access to most music in album form, often at higher than CD resolutions. I listen via Audirvana Studio, a Schiit Jotunheim DAC and balanced headphone amp, and Aeon 2 headphones. My interest
180.
by Syzygies 3y ago
I helped out on "The Right Spin" about the astronaut Michael Foale correcting an uncontrolled roll, after a resupply vessel struck Mir 23. He made calculations on his laptop using Mathematica, including an animation. I converted t

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